How is the School Climate Related to Academic Achievement? The Mediating Role of the Social Support

• In Event: Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

More than just a place for academic teaching and learning, schools are environments for creating social relationships, to gain independence, to develop emotionally, behaviorally, and cognitively. The context of the schools is related to a wide range of socioemotional and cognitive outcomes, including academic achievement. The authoritative school climate theory (Cornell & Huang, 2016) proposes that the disciplinary structure and the social support are the two key dimensions for understanding the school climate. However, some studies (Berkowitz et al., 2017) also highlight the need for understanding the mediating mechanisms and the particular effects of the components of the school climate on outcomes at the school-level. The present study examines the mediating role of the social support in the relation between disciplinary structure and academic achievement. Participants were 29,673 children and adolescents (M(age)=13.89; SD=4.71; 49.4% girls) studying at 181 schools in 48 municipalities in Southern Brazil. The school climate measure included scales of fairness of rules (α(4)=0.86), school safety (α(3)=0.87), and clarity of behavioral expectations (α(4)=0.90) for disciplinary structure; teacher-student relations (α(4)=0.84), and student-student relations (α(4)=0.90) for school support. School-level data regarding socioeconomic status, teacher regularity, and academic achievement were obtained through data of a large-scale evaluation conducted by the Ministry of Education in Brazil. Data were aggregated by school year within each school, in a total of 652 observations to which data on academic achievement was available, and a path analysis procedure was conducted as presented in Figure 1. The model had a good fit to the data (χ2(5)=16.70, p<0.05, CFI=.99, RMSEA=.06, SRMR=.02). Teacher-student relations, student-student relations, socioeconomic status, and teacher regularity were significant positive predictors of academic achievement, while fairness of rules, safety, and clarity of expectations showed no significant direct association, but had indirect effects on achievement. Moreover, teacher-student relations mediated fairness of rules, school safety, and clarity of expectations. Peer relations mediated safety and clarity. The model explained 43.5% of the variability of the academic achievement indicator. The current findings show, as supported by previous studies, that social support and disciplinary structure are both important for better academic achievement environments. However, the results indicate that the effects of strategies that provide structure to schools are mediated by social support. This suggests that policies and practices for improving academic achievements can benefit from understanding the association of achievement to the school climate. It also highlights that positive relations in schools may be a critical link to this association, at least at the school level. Discussion emphasizes the need for further studies disentangling the multilevel influences of school climate, while also acknowledging the need to enhance our understanding of school level processes that influence development. In addition to contributing to children's and adolescents’ well-being and quality of life, promoting a healthier development, caring about relationships in school is crucial for achieving positive academic outcomes.

Authors

• Vitor Yano, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR)
  Presenting Author

• Josafá M. Da Cunha, Federal University of Parana
  Non-Presenting Author